British Hill Climb Championship
Encyclopedia
The British Hill Climb Championship (BHCC) is the most prestigious Hillclimbing championship in Great Britain. Hillclimbing in the British Isles
has a rich history and this event has been held every year since 1947.
All British Champions have been British
. As of 23 July 2009, the most successful drivers in terms of individual victories are Roy Lane
and Martin Groves
, each with 90, while Tony Marsh
holds the record for the most championships, with six. Ken Wharton
is the only driver to win four consecutive titles.
A number of other venues have featured in the championship over the years including Bo'ness
, Dyrham Park
, Fintray
, Great Auclum
, Lhergy Frissel, Longleat, Pontypool Park, Rest and Be Thankful
, Stapleford Aerodrome
, Tholt-y-Will and Westbrook Hay
.
An extra point is given to any driver in the run-off who breaks the outright hill record as it stood at the beginning of the day. In the 2004 season, there were 34 such run-offs (ie 17 hillclimbs with two run-offs at each), but drivers could only count their 28 best results towards their final points total. Adam Fleetwood
that year achieved the unprecedented feat of winning 28 rounds, and so had to drop all his non-win points. Even so, he won the championship by a huge margin - before taking account of his dropped scores, he had racked up 318 points, with the runner-up, 1997 champion Roger Moran
, a massive distance behind on 176 points.
, near Linlithgow
, Scotland
on 17 May 1947. It was one of five events in that year's championship, the other climbs being held at Bouley Bay, Craigantlet, Prescott and Shelsley Walsh. All but Bo'ness still host rounds of the BHCC. The inaugural championship, as well as the 1948 title, went to Raymond Mays
, who proved he was still the force to be reckoned with that he had been before World War II
. Sydney Allard
won the title in 1949 in the self-built Steyr-Allard.
driver Dennis Poore
, from then on every title of the decade was to be won by a driver who had spent most or all of the year behind the wheel of a Cooper
with a JAP
engine. Ken Wharton
started the trend, and became the only man to win four successive BHCC titles. In the mid-Fifties there were three successive titles for the near-legendary Tony Marsh, a man who would still be competing at the highest level of hillclimbing as the 20th century closed. And finally, another hat-trick
of championships went to David Boshier-Jones
.
Sadly the decade was also touched by tragedy, when Bill Sleeman was killed at Bouley Bay
, Jersey
in 1955.
The final round of the decade was held at Stapleford Aerodrome
on October 11, 1959; an event won by David Good
in a Cooper-J.A.P. 1,100 c.c.
, with several of the decade's championships being won by drivers in such cars, including two for Peter Westbury
.
Mike Gray became the second driver to be killed at a BHCC round when he lost his life at Barbon in 1964.
's maiden championship in 1975, and the first of 18 titles in the space of 22 years for Pilbeam
drivers when Alister Douglas-Osborn took the honours in 1977.
driver, when Chris Cramer took the title in 1985. However, it was to be the late 1990s before the Pilbeam near-stranglehold on the BHCC would be broken for any length of time.
's dominance of the sport, with the first eight championships of the decade being won by a driver in one of the marque's cars. By the time Roger Moran
clinched the title in 1997, Pilbeam drivers had won 18 of the 22 championships since 1977, a dominance rivalled only by the Cooper
years of the 1950s and early 1960s.
However, change was afoot, and the 1998 championship went to a Gould driver, David Grace
. The future CEO of Rockingham Motor Speedway
stamped his authority on the championship with a hat-trick of titles as the 20th century closed. As of 2004, every champion since had been behind the wheel of a Gould.
The hillclimb world was shocked in 1995 by the death of one of its leading lights, when Mark Colton
was killed in practice at Craigantlet. He thus became only the third driver to lose his life in the history of the BHCC.
would become as dominant in hillclimbing as Michael Schumacher
had done in Formula One
, and perhaps his greatest moments came at Shelsley Walsh
. In June 2001, he broke the outright record that had stood for nine years, and almost a year later, he became the first driver to break the magical 25-second barrier at the track. This latter performance won him a prize of £1,000.
The 2001 season was severely disrupted by the foot and mouth crisis
that year, which caused the postponement of some rounds of the series, though only one climb - at Barbon - was actually cancelled entirely, and co-operation between event organisers and local landowners meant that spectators continued to be admitted to the meetings, albeit with precautions such as the disinfecting of cars entering the car parks.
A little later in the decade, once Adam Fleetwood
had proved that he could translate his exploits in smaller cars to the top class, Wight Jr began to come under intense pressure, and by 2004 Fleetwood usually had the better of their battles. Sadly that season's championship was robbed of a classic battle for the title when Wight Jr pulled out in June to wait for the arrival of a new car - this had still not been driven in anger by the end of the year. However, crowds around the country could console themselves by watching a true master of the hills at work. Fleetwood won all but six of the year's 34 BHCC rounds, breaking hill records for fun - and in turn became the first person to climb Shelsley in under 24 seconds.
Fleetwood's announcement in April 2005 that other commitments would prevent his defending his title meant once again that the two most successful drivers of the 2000s would not go head-to-head, and the stage seemed set for Wight Jr to regain his crown, although his new V10 Predator proved unreliable, allowing the impressive Martin Groves
to open up a lead at the top of the points table; Groves had the championship wrapped up by early August. With Wight Jr still nowhere to be seen, Groves retained the title in 2006, although he had to wait a month longer than in the previous year thanks to a spirited challenge from Scott Moran
. Groves again held off Moran's charge in 2007 to complete a hat-trick of titles, but in 2008 Moran took his first championship win, retaining his title in 2009.
Hillclimbing in the British Isles
Hillclimbing in the British Isles differs from the style of hillclimb events staged in many other parts of the world, in that courses are generally short — mostly under one mile in length — and this means that cars and drivers do not generally cross between British events and the...
has a rich history and this event has been held every year since 1947.
All British Champions have been British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
. As of 23 July 2009, the most successful drivers in terms of individual victories are Roy Lane
Roy Lane
Roy Lane was a British racing driver. He is best known for his great success in hillclimbing, having won the British Hillclimb Championship on four occasions in a career spanning more than three decades...
and Martin Groves
Martin Groves
Martin Groves is a British hillclimb driver, who won the British Hill Climb Championship in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010. With older cars he had won five rounds of the BHCC between 2001 and 2004 , but in 2005 he was exceptionally quick in his new Gould GR55, clinching the championship at Craigantlet...
, each with 90, while Tony Marsh
Tony Marsh (racing driver)
Anthony Ernest "Tony" Marsh was a British racing driver from England. His Formula One career was short and unsuccessful, but he enjoyed great success in hillclimbing, winning the British Hill Climb Championship on a record six occasions.Having begun his hillclimbing career in 1953 with a...
holds the record for the most championships, with six. Ken Wharton
Ken Wharton
Kenneth Wharton was a British racing driver from England. He began competing in the new National 500cc Formula in his own special, later acquiring a Cooper. Ken participated in 15 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 May 1952 and scored a total of 3 championship points...
is the only driver to win four consecutive titles.
British Championship Hillclimb venues
The following tracks (listed in alphabetical order) are used in the BHCC. As mentioned below, each day's hillclimbing contains two rounds of the Championship.Four rounds (two days)
- DouneDoune HillclimbDoune Hillclimb, Carse of Cambus, near Doune in the district of Stirling, Scotland, is the home of the only round of the British Hill Climb Championship to be held in Scotland,...
- Gurston DownGurston Down Motorsport HillclimbThe Gurston Down Motorsport Hillclimb is a hillclimb in Broad Chalke, Wiltshire, England, organised by the South Western Centre of the British Automobile Racing Club. The first practice meeting was held on June 25, 1967, when Patsy Burt, driving a McLaren-Oldsmobile set a time of 39.90 sec...
- HarewoodHarewood speed HillclimbHarewood speed Hillclimb is a hillclimb near the village of Harewood, West Yorkshire, England. The track can be found on the A659 between Harewood village and Collingham, north of Leeds...
- Loton ParkLoton Park Hill ClimbLoton Park Hill Climb is a hillclimb held in part of the Loton Park deer park in Shropshire, England. The track was originally constructed by the members of The Severn Valley Motor Club based in Shrewsbury, in the mid 1950s. The first ever winner was Peter Foulkes in a Cooper Climax...
- PrescottPrescott Speed HillclimbPrescott Speed Hill Climb is a hillclimb in Gloucestershire, England. The course used for most events is in length, and as of late 2007 the hill record was held by Scott Moran, who set a time of 36.35 seconds on 2 September 2007 for an average speed of . The track was extended in 1960 to form the...
- Shelsley WalshShelsley Walsh Speed Hill ClimbThe Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb is a hillclimb in Worcestershire, England, organised by the Midland Automobile Club . It is one of the oldest motorsport events in the world, and is in fact the oldest to have been staged continuously on its original course, first having been run in 1905...
Two rounds (one day)
- BarbonBarbon HillclimbBarbon Hillclimb is a hillclimb held near Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, north-west England. The event is held on the Barbon Manor estate with the course ordinarily being used as a driveway. The course is 890 yards in length, making it the shortest of the British Hill Climb Championship tracks outside...
- Bouley BayBouley Bay Hill ClimbBouley Bay is a speed Hill Climb venue in Trinity, Jersey, organised by The Jersey Motor Cycle and Light Car Club. The course on Les Charrières du Boulay was "first used for competition in 1921" and since 1947 has hosted a round of the British Hill Climb Championship...
- CraigantletCraigantlet HillclimbCraigantlet Hillclimb, a speed event organised by the Ulster Automobile Club, was first held in 1913. It is the only such venue in Northern Ireland to host a round of the British Hill Climb Championship, which started in 1947....
- Val des TerresVal des Terres Hill ClimbThe Val des Terres Hill Climb is a hillclimbing competition held in St Peter Port, Guernsey. The course is 850 yards in length. The track has hosted a round of the British Hill Climb Championship....
- Wiscombe ParkWiscombe Park HillclimbWiscombe Park Hillclimb is a British hillclimb, situated in Colyton, Devon. The course, which is 1000 yards in length — the same as Shelsley Walsh — was opened in 1958. The course was extended in 1961 when the record was held by Addicott in a Lotus at 49.3 secs...
A number of other venues have featured in the championship over the years including Bo'ness
Bo'ness Hill Climb
Bo'ness Hill Climb is a hillclimbing course near Bo'ness, Scotland, sometimes referred to as Kinneil Hill Climb. In March 1947 Motor Sport reported: "Kinneil hill at Bo'ness will provide an 880-yard course, having been lengthened by 140 yds." The first round of the inaugural series of the British...
, Dyrham Park
Dyrham Park
Dyrham Park is a baroque mansion in an ancient deer park near the village of Dyrham in Gloucestershire, England. For the history of the manor of Dyrham, see main article Dyrham.-Description:...
, Fintray
Fintray hillclimb
Fintray House Hillclimb is a speed motorsport event held near Hatton of Fintray, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Each event is a separate round of the Scottish Hillclimb Championship. The venue is a working farm for the majority of the year but Grampian Automobile Club stage two, two-day events each...
, Great Auclum
Great Auclum National Speed Hill Climb
Great Auclum National Speed Hill Climb was a motorcar course close to Burghfield Common in the English county of Berkshire.It was based in the grounds of a large country house, formerly owned by a family connected to Huntley and Palmer - the famous biscuit manufacturers at nearby Reading, Berkshire...
, Lhergy Frissel, Longleat, Pontypool Park, Rest and Be Thankful
Rest and Be Thankful Speed Hill Climb
Rest and Be Thankful Hill Climb is a defunct hillclimbing course in Glen Croe, Argyll, Scotland. The first known use of the road for a hillclimb was in 1906...
, Stapleford Aerodrome
Stapleford Aerodrome
Stapleford Aerodrome is an airfield in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England near to the village of Abridge. It is about south of North Weald Airfield and north of Romford...
, Tholt-y-Will and Westbrook Hay
Westbrook Hay Hill Climb
Herts County Automobile & Aero Club held the first Westbrook Hay speed hillclimb in 1953, and organised all events thereuntil the course closed in 1962. Between 1959 and 1962 the track hosted four rounds of the British Hill Climb Championship....
.
Format
A major hillclimb may have an entry of more than 150 drivers, but the event is usually a qualifying round of more than one competition, and some drivers (especially drivers of less powerful cars) will not be entered for the British Championship itself. Those who are, and who record a time in the top twelve of all those eligible, compete in a "run-off" at the end of each set of class run (there are two such sets of class runs at each event). In a run-off, drivers tackle the hill in reverse order of their qualifying times, although where two drivers share a car, the slower qualifier competes at the start of the run-off session. The person who sets the fastest time receives 10 British Championship points, the second-fastest driver nine, and so on down to the tenth-placed driver, who gets one. The 11th and 12th-placed drivers, and any who fail to complete the course, receive no points.An extra point is given to any driver in the run-off who breaks the outright hill record as it stood at the beginning of the day. In the 2004 season, there were 34 such run-offs (ie 17 hillclimbs with two run-offs at each), but drivers could only count their 28 best results towards their final points total. Adam Fleetwood
Adam Fleetwood
Adam Fleetwood is a British racing driver. He won the British Hillclimb Championship in both 2003 and 2004 driving a Gould, and in the latter year won an unprecedented 28 of the 34 rounds of the series. In the process he broke many outright hill records, and became the first driver to complete the...
that year achieved the unprecedented feat of winning 28 rounds, and so had to drop all his non-win points. Even so, he won the championship by a huge margin - before taking account of his dropped scores, he had racked up 318 points, with the runner-up, 1997 champion Roger Moran
Roger Moran
Roger Moran is a British hillclimb driver, who won the British Hillclimb Championship in 1997. In recent years he has shared a car with his son Scott.-References:...
, a massive distance behind on 176 points.
The early days
The first climb of the inaugural series was staged at Bo'nessBo'ness Hill Climb
Bo'ness Hill Climb is a hillclimbing course near Bo'ness, Scotland, sometimes referred to as Kinneil Hill Climb. In March 1947 Motor Sport reported: "Kinneil hill at Bo'ness will provide an 880-yard course, having been lengthened by 140 yds." The first round of the inaugural series of the British...
, near Linlithgow
Linlithgow
Linlithgow is a Royal Burgh in West Lothian, Scotland. An ancient town, it lies south of its two most prominent landmarks: Linlithgow Palace and Linlithgow Loch, and north of the Union Canal....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
on 17 May 1947. It was one of five events in that year's championship, the other climbs being held at Bouley Bay, Craigantlet, Prescott and Shelsley Walsh. All but Bo'ness still host rounds of the BHCC. The inaugural championship, as well as the 1948 title, went to Raymond Mays
Raymond Mays
Thomas Raymond Mays CBE was an auto racing driver and entrepreneur from Bourne, Lincolnshire, England.He attended Oundle School, where he met Amherst Villiers, leaving at the end of 1917. After army service in the Grenadier Guards in France, he attended Christ's College, Cambridge...
, who proved he was still the force to be reckoned with that he had been before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Sydney Allard
Sydney Allard
Sydney Herbert Allard was the founder of the Allard car company and a successful racing motorist. He was remarkable in that he achieved sporting success in cars of his own manufacture....
won the title in 1949 in the self-built Steyr-Allard.
The 1950s
Although the 1950 championship went to Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...
driver Dennis Poore
Dennis Poore
Roger Dennistoun "Dennis" Poore was a British entrepreneur, financier and sometime racing driver,. Poore used his personal weath to bankroll the founding, in 1950, of the motor racing journal Autosport. He himself was a keen motor sport participant, and competed in two Formula One World...
, from then on every title of the decade was to be won by a driver who had spent most or all of the year behind the wheel of a Cooper
Cooper Car Company
The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...
with a JAP
JAP
Jap or JAP may refer to:* Journal of Applied Physics, scientific journal published by American Institute of Physics* Journal of Applied Physiology, scientific journal published by American Physiological Society...
engine. Ken Wharton
Ken Wharton
Kenneth Wharton was a British racing driver from England. He began competing in the new National 500cc Formula in his own special, later acquiring a Cooper. Ken participated in 15 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 May 1952 and scored a total of 3 championship points...
started the trend, and became the only man to win four successive BHCC titles. In the mid-Fifties there were three successive titles for the near-legendary Tony Marsh, a man who would still be competing at the highest level of hillclimbing as the 20th century closed. And finally, another hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
of championships went to David Boshier-Jones
David Boshier-Jones
David Boshier-Jones is a British racing driver, whose career ran from 1952 until his retirement in 1961. He competed both in circuit racing and in hillclimbs, achieving success in both disciplines but particularly on the hills, where he claimed three successive British Hill Climb Championships, in...
.
Sadly the decade was also touched by tragedy, when Bill Sleeman was killed at Bouley Bay
Bouley Bay Hill Climb
Bouley Bay is a speed Hill Climb venue in Trinity, Jersey, organised by The Jersey Motor Cycle and Light Car Club. The course on Les Charrières du Boulay was "first used for competition in 1921" and since 1947 has hosted a round of the British Hill Climb Championship...
, Jersey
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
in 1955.
The final round of the decade was held at Stapleford Aerodrome
Stapleford Aerodrome
Stapleford Aerodrome is an airfield in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England near to the village of Abridge. It is about south of North Weald Airfield and north of Romford...
on October 11, 1959; an event won by David Good
David Good
David Good is a former British Hill Climb Champion. In 1961 he won the qualifying rounds at Westbrook Hay and Wiscombe Park, driving a Cooper-JAP Mk 8, and clinched the title with a third place at Prescott in September...
in a Cooper-J.A.P. 1,100 c.c.
The 1960s
Although the 1960s opened as the Fifties had ended, with Boshier-Jones taking the honours in his Cooper-JAP, the decade was to see a marked change in hillclimbing. One notable feature of 1960s climbing was the appearance of four-wheel driveFour-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4×4 is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously...
, with several of the decade's championships being won by drivers in such cars, including two for Peter Westbury
Peter Westbury
Peter Westbury is a British former racing driver from England. He participated in two World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, scoring no championship points. In 1969 he raced a Formula 2 Brabham-Cosworth, driving in his first Grand Prix in the 1969 German Grand Prix. He finished ninth on the...
.
Mike Gray became the second driver to be killed at a BHCC round when he lost his life at Barbon in 1964.
The 1970s
The Seventies saw two notable firsts: Roy LaneRoy Lane
Roy Lane was a British racing driver. He is best known for his great success in hillclimbing, having won the British Hillclimb Championship on four occasions in a career spanning more than three decades...
's maiden championship in 1975, and the first of 18 titles in the space of 22 years for Pilbeam
Pilbeam Racing Designs
Pilbeam Racing Designs is a British company which designs and constructs racing cars, based in the Lincolnshire town of Bourne. The company was founded in 1975 by Mike Pilbeam.-Early career:...
drivers when Alister Douglas-Osborn took the honours in 1977.
The 1980s
This decade also saw the first championship to be won by a GouldGould Racing
Gould Racing is a British motorsport company, specialising in racing car manufacture and engineering. The company is run by David Gould, and is based in Newbury, Berkshire, England....
driver, when Chris Cramer took the title in 1985. However, it was to be the late 1990s before the Pilbeam near-stranglehold on the BHCC would be broken for any length of time.
The 1990s
The 1990s continued and even intensified PilbeamPilbeam Racing Designs
Pilbeam Racing Designs is a British company which designs and constructs racing cars, based in the Lincolnshire town of Bourne. The company was founded in 1975 by Mike Pilbeam.-Early career:...
's dominance of the sport, with the first eight championships of the decade being won by a driver in one of the marque's cars. By the time Roger Moran
Roger Moran
Roger Moran is a British hillclimb driver, who won the British Hillclimb Championship in 1997. In recent years he has shared a car with his son Scott.-References:...
clinched the title in 1997, Pilbeam drivers had won 18 of the 22 championships since 1977, a dominance rivalled only by the Cooper
Cooper Car Company
The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...
years of the 1950s and early 1960s.
However, change was afoot, and the 1998 championship went to a Gould driver, David Grace
David Grace
David Grace is a British racing driver and businessman. He was the CEO at Rockingham Motor Speedway between 2000 and 2002, and oversaw the opening of the track and the return, after many years, of CART racing to Britain.As a driver his greatest successes came in hillclimbing, where he was five...
. The future CEO of Rockingham Motor Speedway
Rockingham Motor Speedway
Rockingham is the UK's most modern motorsport venue and Europe's fastest racing circuit, hosting corporate driving days, driver training, conferencing & exhibitions, vehicle manufacturing events, track days, testing, driving experiences and motorsport...
stamped his authority on the championship with a hat-trick of titles as the 20th century closed. As of 2004, every champion since had been behind the wheel of a Gould.
The hillclimb world was shocked in 1995 by the death of one of its leading lights, when Mark Colton
Mark Colton
Mark Colton was a British racing driver and software author.He was killed in practice for Craigantlet hillclimb in Northern Ireland after his Pilbeam's front wing failed and he hit a telegraph pole....
was killed in practice at Craigantlet. He thus became only the third driver to lose his life in the history of the BHCC.
Recent times
The start of the 21st century saw a "changing of the guard" in the BHCC, as young drivers in lightweight cars made their presence felt at the highest level. At first it appeared as though Graeme Wight JrGraeme Wight Jr
Graeme Wight, Jr. is a Scottish racing driver, best known for his success in hillclimbing, where he has won two British championships.Wight began competing in hillclimbs at an early age, but in September 1992, still only 21, he was badly injured in a road accident when the brakes failed on his...
would become as dominant in hillclimbing as Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
had done in Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
, and perhaps his greatest moments came at Shelsley Walsh
Shelsley Walsh
Shelsley Walsh is a small village in Worcestershire, England at the top of a the western valley side of the River Teme.Its population at the time of the 2001 Census was just 31, but the village's name is widely known among motorsport enthusiasts because of its association with the Shelsley Walsh...
. In June 2001, he broke the outright record that had stood for nine years, and almost a year later, he became the first driver to break the magical 25-second barrier at the track. This latter performance won him a prize of £1,000.
The 2001 season was severely disrupted by the foot and mouth crisis
2001 UK foot and mouth crisis
The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom in 2001 caused a crisis in British agriculture and tourism. This epizootic saw 2,000 cases of the disease in farms in most of the British countryside. Over 10 million sheep and cattle were killed in an eventually successful attempt to...
that year, which caused the postponement of some rounds of the series, though only one climb - at Barbon - was actually cancelled entirely, and co-operation between event organisers and local landowners meant that spectators continued to be admitted to the meetings, albeit with precautions such as the disinfecting of cars entering the car parks.
A little later in the decade, once Adam Fleetwood
Adam Fleetwood
Adam Fleetwood is a British racing driver. He won the British Hillclimb Championship in both 2003 and 2004 driving a Gould, and in the latter year won an unprecedented 28 of the 34 rounds of the series. In the process he broke many outright hill records, and became the first driver to complete the...
had proved that he could translate his exploits in smaller cars to the top class, Wight Jr began to come under intense pressure, and by 2004 Fleetwood usually had the better of their battles. Sadly that season's championship was robbed of a classic battle for the title when Wight Jr pulled out in June to wait for the arrival of a new car - this had still not been driven in anger by the end of the year. However, crowds around the country could console themselves by watching a true master of the hills at work. Fleetwood won all but six of the year's 34 BHCC rounds, breaking hill records for fun - and in turn became the first person to climb Shelsley in under 24 seconds.
Fleetwood's announcement in April 2005 that other commitments would prevent his defending his title meant once again that the two most successful drivers of the 2000s would not go head-to-head, and the stage seemed set for Wight Jr to regain his crown, although his new V10 Predator proved unreliable, allowing the impressive Martin Groves
Martin Groves
Martin Groves is a British hillclimb driver, who won the British Hill Climb Championship in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010. With older cars he had won five rounds of the BHCC between 2001 and 2004 , but in 2005 he was exceptionally quick in his new Gould GR55, clinching the championship at Craigantlet...
to open up a lead at the top of the points table; Groves had the championship wrapped up by early August. With Wight Jr still nowhere to be seen, Groves retained the title in 2006, although he had to wait a month longer than in the previous year thanks to a spirited challenge from Scott Moran
Scott Moran
Scott Moran is a British hillclimb driver, based in Ludlow, Shropshire,. He is the reigning British Hill Climb Champion. Scott has won the British Hill Climb Championship three times driving the Gould GR61X he shares with his father, 1997 British Champion Roger Moran...
. Groves again held off Moran's charge in 2007 to complete a hat-trick of titles, but in 2008 Moran took his first championship win, retaining his title in 2009.
Champions
| Year | Champion | Car |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Martin Groves Martin Groves Martin Groves is a British hillclimb driver, who won the British Hill Climb Championship in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010. With older cars he had won five rounds of the BHCC between 2001 and 2004 , but in 2005 he was exceptionally quick in his new Gould GR55, clinching the championship at Craigantlet... |
Gould Gould Racing Gould Racing is a British motorsport company, specialising in racing car manufacture and engineering. The company is run by David Gould, and is based in Newbury, Berkshire, England.... GR55B NME |
| 2009 | Scott Moran Scott Moran Scott Moran is a British hillclimb driver, based in Ludlow, Shropshire,. He is the reigning British Hill Climb Champion. Scott has won the British Hill Climb Championship three times driving the Gould GR61X he shares with his father, 1997 British Champion Roger Moran... |
Gould GR61 NME |
| 2008 2008 British Hill Climb Championship season The 2008 Nicholson McLaren Engines British Hill Climb Championship season was the 62nd British Hill Climb Championship season. It was the last year in which Nicholson McLaren sponsored the championship, as MCL Motorhomes took over the championship sponsorship for 2009. The series was contested... |
Scott Moran | Gould GR61 NME |
| 2007 | Martin Groves Martin Groves Martin Groves is a British hillclimb driver, who won the British Hill Climb Championship in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010. With older cars he had won five rounds of the BHCC between 2001 and 2004 , but in 2005 he was exceptionally quick in his new Gould GR55, clinching the championship at Craigantlet... |
Gould GR55B NME |
| 2006 | Martin Groves | Gould GR55B NME |
| 2005 | Martin Groves | Gould GR55B NME |
| 2004 | Adam Fleetwood Adam Fleetwood Adam Fleetwood is a British racing driver. He won the British Hillclimb Championship in both 2003 and 2004 driving a Gould, and in the latter year won an unprecedented 28 of the 34 rounds of the series. In the process he broke many outright hill records, and became the first driver to complete the... |
Gould GR55 NME |
| 2003 | Adam Fleetwood | Gould GR55 NME |
| 2002 | Graeme Wight Jr Graeme Wight Jr Graeme Wight, Jr. is a Scottish racing driver, best known for his success in hillclimbing, where he has won two British championships.Wight began competing in hillclimbs at an early age, but in September 1992, still only 21, he was badly injured in a road accident when the brakes failed on his... |
Gould GR51 |
| 2001 | Graeme Wight Jr | Gould GR51 |
| 2000 | David Grace David Grace David Grace is a British racing driver and businessman. He was the CEO at Rockingham Motor Speedway between 2000 and 2002, and oversaw the opening of the track and the return, after many years, of CART racing to Britain.As a driver his greatest successes came in hillclimbing, where he was five... |
Gould Ralt Ralt RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name... GR37 |
| 1999 | David Grace | Gould Ralt GR37 |
| 1998 | David Grace | Gould Ralt GR37 |
| 1997 | Roger Moran Roger Moran Roger Moran is a British hillclimb driver, who won the British Hillclimb Championship in 1997. In recent years he has shared a car with his son Scott.-References:... |
Pilbeam Pilbeam Racing Designs Pilbeam Racing Designs is a British company which designs and constructs racing cars, based in the Lincolnshire town of Bourne. The company was founded in 1975 by Mike Pilbeam.-Early career:... MP72 |
| 1996 | Roy Lane Roy Lane Roy Lane was a British racing driver. He is best known for his great success in hillclimbing, having won the British Hillclimb Championship on four occasions in a career spanning more than three decades... |
Pilbeam MP58-09 |
| 1995 | Andy Priaulx Andy Priaulx Andrew Graham Priaulx, MBE is a British racing driver from Guernsey. He is a European Touring Car Championship champion, three times World Touring Car Championship champion and the only FIA Touring Car champion to win an International level championship for four consecutive years... |
Pilbeam MP58-03 |
| 1994 | David Grace | Pilbeam MP58-05 |
| 1993 | David Grace | Pilbeam MP58-05 |
| 1992 | Roy Lane | Pilbeam MP58-08 |
| 1991 | Martyn Griffiths Martyn Griffiths Martyn Griffiths is a British racing driver, whose greatest success has been in hillclimbing. He has won the British Hill Climb Championship on five occasions .-References:... |
Pilbeam MP58-05 |
| 1990 | Martyn Griffiths | Pilbeam MP58-05 |
| 1989 | Ray Rowan Ray Rowan Ray Rowan is a retired British racing driver. He won the British Hill Climb Championship in 1989, driving a Roman-Hart.-Notes:... |
Roman-Hart IVH |
| 1988 | Charles Wardle | Pilbeam-Repco MP47 |
| 1987 | Martyn Griffiths | Pilbeam-Hart MP53 |
| 1986 | Martyn Griffiths | Pilbeam-Hart MP53 |
| 1985 | Chris Cramer | Gould-Hart 84/2 |
| 1984 | Martin Bolsover Martin Bolsover Martin Bolsover is a British racing driver. He won the British Hill Climb Championship three times driving a Pilbeam, his titles coming in successive years... |
Pilbeam-Hart |
| 1983 | Martin Bolsover | Pilbeam-Hart MP50 |
| 1982 | Martin Bolsover | Pilbeam-Hart MP50 |
| 1981 | James Thomson | Pilbeam-Hart MP40 |
| 1980 | Chris Cramer | March-Hart |
| 1979 | Martyn Griffiths | Pilbeam-Hart MP40 |
| 1978 | David Franklin | March-BMW BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands... |
| 1977 | Alister Douglas-Osborn | Pilbeam-DFV Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine... R22 |
| 1976 | Roy Lane | McRae-Chevrolet Chevrolet Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918... GM1 |
| 1975 | Roy Lane | McRae-Chevrolet GM1 |
| 1974 | Mike MacDowel Mike MacDowel Michael George Hartwell MacDowel is a former racing driver from England. He participated in one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, the 1957 French Grand Prix on 7 July 1957, sharing his car with Jack Brabham... |
Brabham-Repco BT36X |
| 1973 | Mike MacDowel | Brabham-Repco BT36X |
| 1972 | Sir Nicholas Williamson, Bt Baronet A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown... |
March-Hart |
| 1971 | David Hepworth David Hepworth (racing driver) David Hepworth was a British racing driver, who won the British Hill Climb Championship twice, in 1969 and 1971.In the early-mid 1960s Hepworth drove an Austin-Healey 3000 fitted with a Chevrolet engine in both rallies and circuit racing, but by 1968 he was driving a Hepworth-Oldsmobile; in this he... |
Hepworth-Chevrolet 4WD Four Wheel Drive The Four Wheel Drive Auto Company, more often known as Four Wheel Drive or just FWD, was founded in 1909 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, as the Badger Four-Wheel Drive Auto Company by Otto Zachow and William Besserdich.-History:... |
| 1970 | Sir Nicholas Williamson, Bt | McLaren-Chevrolet M10A |
| 1969 | David Hepworth | Hepworth-Oldsmobile Oldsmobile Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory... 4WD |
| 1968 | Peter Lawson | BRM P67 4WD |
| 1967 | Tony Marsh Tony Marsh (racing driver) Anthony Ernest "Tony" Marsh was a British racing driver from England. His Formula One career was short and unsuccessful, but he enjoyed great success in hillclimbing, winning the British Hill Climb Championship on a record six occasions.Having begun his hillclimbing career in 1953 with a... |
Marsh-GM |
| 1966 | Tony Marsh | Marsh-GM |
| 1965 | Tony Marsh | Marsh-GM |
| 1964 | Peter Westbury Peter Westbury Peter Westbury is a British former racing driver from England. He participated in two World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, scoring no championship points. In 1969 he raced a Formula 2 Brabham-Cosworth, driving in his first Grand Prix in the 1969 German Grand Prix. He finished ninth on the... |
Ferguson-Climax P99 4WD |
| 1963 | Peter Westbury | Felday-Daimler Daimler-Benz Daimler-Benz AG was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and internal combustion engines; founded in 1926. An Agreement of Mutual Interest - which was valid until year 2000 - was signed on 1 May 1924 between Karl Benz's Benz & Cie., and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, which had... / Cooper-Daimler |
| 1962 | Arthur Owen Arthur Owen Arthur Owen was a British racing driver from England. He participated in one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, the 1960 Italian Grand Prix, driving a privately-entered 2.2 litre Cooper. He crashed on the first lap of the race at the South Corner, due to brake failure... |
Cooper Cooper Car Company The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946... -Climax T53 |
| 1961 | David Good David Good David Good is a former British Hill Climb Champion. In 1961 he won the qualifying rounds at Westbrook Hay and Wiscombe Park, driving a Cooper-JAP Mk 8, and clinched the title with a third place at Prescott in September... |
Cooper-JAP Mk 8 |
| 1960 | David Boshier-Jones David Boshier-Jones David Boshier-Jones is a British racing driver, whose career ran from 1952 until his retirement in 1961. He competed both in circuit racing and in hillclimbs, achieving success in both disciplines but particularly on the hills, where he claimed three successive British Hill Climb Championships, in... |
Cooper-JAP Mk 9 |
| 1959 | David Boshier-Jones | Cooper-JAP Mk 9 |
| 1958 | David Boshier-Jones | Cooper-JAP Mk 9 |
| 1957 | Tony Marsh | Cooper-JAP Mk 8 |
| 1956 | Tony Marsh | Cooper-JAP Mk 8 |
| 1955 | Tony Marsh | Cooper-JAP Mk 8 |
| 1954 | Ken Wharton Ken Wharton Kenneth Wharton was a British racing driver from England. He began competing in the new National 500cc Formula in his own special, later acquiring a Cooper. Ken participated in 15 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 May 1952 and scored a total of 3 championship points... |
Cooper-JAP Mk 4 / ERA English Racing Automobiles English Racing Automobiles was a British racing car manufacturer active from 1933 to 1954. Currently the ERA trademark is owned by a British kit-car manufacturer.-Prewar history:... R4D |
| 1953 | Ken Wharton | Cooper-JAP Mk 4 / ERA R11B |
| 1952 | Ken Wharton | Cooper-JAP Mk 4 / ERA R11B |
| 1951 | Ken Wharton | Cooper-JAP Mk 4 |
| 1950 | Dennis Poore Dennis Poore Roger Dennistoun "Dennis" Poore was a British entrepreneur, financier and sometime racing driver,. Poore used his personal weath to bankroll the founding, in 1950, of the motor racing journal Autosport. He himself was a keen motor sport participant, and competed in two Formula One World... |
Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars... 8C-35 |
| 1949 | Sydney Allard Sydney Allard Sydney Herbert Allard was the founder of the Allard car company and a successful racing motorist. He was remarkable in that he achieved sporting success in cars of his own manufacture.... |
Steyr-Allard |
| 1948 | Raymond Mays Raymond Mays Thomas Raymond Mays CBE was an auto racing driver and entrepreneur from Bourne, Lincolnshire, England.He attended Oundle School, where he met Amherst Villiers, leaving at the end of 1917. After army service in the Grenadier Guards in France, he attended Christ's College, Cambridge... |
ERA R4D |
| 1947 | Raymond Mays | ERA R4D |
External links
- Top 12 Run Off, a site devoted to the BHCC.
- Uphill Racers , Resource & Forum for British Speed Hillclimbing.
- 2T4T , Photographic and Video coverage of the BHCC.